Truck stop slaying suspect photographed next to victim’s body
A vehicle belonging to a Minnesota slaying suspect was photographed at the scene of a homicide at a truck stop in the Las Vegas Valley in February, helping police secure a murder warrant in the case.
The photo is detailed in an arrest report for Mark A. Doocy, 60, of Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. Doocy is charged with murder in the Feb. 28 slaying of Dennis David Hopkins, 40, of Las Vegas, at the Love’s Travel Stop at 12501 Apex Great Basin Way.
The arrest report for Doocy said Hopkins was at the truck stop, helping his wife restart her broken-down pickup, when the shooting occurred. The man’s wife said they were working on the pickup when she “observed a person she has known for the past several months as Mark Doocy” pull up next to Dennis Hopkins’ vehicle.
“Doocy and Dennis Hopkins got into a verbal altercation when Dennis told her to call 911,” the arrest report states.
Police did not specify what the argument was about, but a witness said they heard Doocy telling Hopkins he was going to retrieve a gun from his vehicle, a black GMC Envoy, with Minnesota tags.
“Dennis Hopkins said, ‘Go ahead,’” the arrest report states.
Hopkins then jumped into his Ford Excursion as Doocy approached with a weapon, police said.
“Doocy began shooting into the vehicle through the front windshield,” the report states. Hopkins suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest.
Hopkins then got out of the vehicle and ran northbound on Apex Great Basin Way before collapsing in a desert area, with Doocy following and shooting at him, police said.
“Doocy got back into his GMC Envoy and drove to the area where Hopkins was lying in the desert,” police said.
A witness snapped a photo of Doocy’s vehicle pulled up next to Hopkins’ body, the arrest report states.
Hopkins’ wife told police Doocy frequented a motel on Speedway Boulevard. Police subsequently checked a license plate reading device used by police that showed Doocy’s Envoy — with the same Minnesota tags — was parked at the hotel in January.
Doocy was arrested Wednesday at a Minnesota truck stop in Webster Township. He is now being held at the Rice County, Minnesota, detention center, awaiting extradition to Nevada.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
